Chapter 119 Imams among Sunnis
Although it is said that the Catholic Church played an important role in grassroots governance in the Middle Ages, compared with Islam, it is actually a little less interesting.
The Catholic Church actually needs to be more centralized and have a clear bureaucracy to facilitate the Holy See to convey its will.
But Islam is different. Strictly speaking, Islam does not have a center modeled on the Holy See.
There is usually no direct subordinate relationship between mosques. Each mosque usually operates independently in Islam, which can be described as quite spontaneous and flat.
Moreover, the imams of local mosques come from a variety of sources, including community elections, official appointments, religious scholars, etc...
But in general, the imam of Sunni Islam exists more as a position, often rooted in the local area, and lacks unified management.
Bureaucracy has the advantages of bureaucracy, and flatness also has the advantages of flatness.
The Catholic Pope can use the hierarchical church institutions to convert his own will into the will of the church and mobilize Europe to launch a crusade.
The Sunni sect of Islam, because of its flattened spontaneity, has penetrated deeper into the grassroots, is more widely distributed, and is meticulous.
In the flat Islam, these Sunni imams act as grassroots organizers and undertake a large number of functions common to neighborhood committees in later generations.
From presiding over marriages to presiding over funerals, from presiding over festivals to presiding over worship services, from mediating conflicts to relieving the poor, from educating knowledge to selecting the next imam...
It can be said that it is they who maintain the existence of the Islamic community.
This model, in Gallis' view, is actually quite good.
At least compared to the Catholic side, they worry about beating the younger ones before the older ones come.
He unified the Sunni Muslims in the territory, and no one could really control him in a short period of time.
In order to unify the Muslims in the territory, firstly, it is from the perspective of financial resources, that is, zakah, and secondly, it is to overwhelm the original Muslim scholars from the ideological level, so that they are willing to obey their orders.
In terms of financial resources, Gairis plans to reorganize the Zakat system in the territory, and in terms of ideology, he must start from the perspective of Gairis's self-declaration.
At present, the investigation on the blood debt situation of the tax collectors is almost complete.
Garris felt that it was necessary for him to take action. It just happened to be a warning to the monkeys. He hoped that the imams in the mosques would be wiser.
……
On June 8, 632 AD, Prophet Muhammad passed away, leaving behind an Arabian Peninsula that was about to be unified.
After his death, the Muslim community elected an orthodox caliphate after him.
A new empire was born on the earth, and then began to conquer the east and west.
In 638 AD, the second orthodox caliph captured Jerusalem from the Eastern Roman Empire and incorporated the Jordan region into the Arab Empire a year earlier.
Since then, the ground that Garris now stands on has been dyed in the colors of the black and white flags.
When the era of the four orthodox caliphs ended, the Umayyad family established their own family world, brought the Arabian Empire into their own hands, and ushered in the era of hereditary system. They were called the Great Food in White Clothes by the contemporary Tang Dynasty.
Then in 750, the Abbasid family overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and established the Second Arab Empire, which was called the Black Era by the Tang Dynasty.
From then on, the Arab Empire reached its peak and began to collapse on the top of the mountain. However, with the disintegration of the empire and the raging war, Arab science and culture entered the "golden age."
It's ridiculous and seems outrageous, but it does happen.
When Garris turned a corner with a caravan, another 12th-century Muslim village appeared in Garris's sight.
The village is nestled among dry hills and has low, dilapidated mud-brick houses with mottled walls.
A few thin sheep were foraging in the haystacks at the end of the village, and the air was filled with dust and sand.
In the Arab "Golden Age", Alexandria had a population of 70,000 to 80,000, Cairo and Damascus had a population of more than 100,000, and Baghdad had a population of as many as 200,000.
These cities condense the crystallization of Arab science and culture and are considered the torch of civilization in this era.
However, the village in Gehlis's vision is the true background of the Islamic world in this era.
In the 12th century, more than 80% of Muslims lived in rural areas, not cities.
If Gairis wanted to truly mobilize the Muslims in this land, he would have to go deep into the countryside again and again.
"Sir, we are coming." The leader of the caravan whispered to Garris.
In response, Garris slightly lowered his head to indicate that he understood.
As early as a month ago, while Simon and Khalid were conducting inspections and investigations, Garris also started to form the small caravan he is now in.
This caravan is very small, with only 8 carriages and 15 camels in total.
The caravan's store is located in Alhadi Town, and is responsible for transporting Skal's output to Alhadi Town for external sales.
They also purchased materials needed for the development of the territory from the large caravans passing by. In addition, small teams are often organized to go to various villages in the territory to sell various goods.
The ecological niche it occupies is half a level higher than that of ordinary rural salesmen.
Generally speaking, they sell ironware, needlework, pottery, salt, cloth, etc.
Of course, some children's toys are actually included.
Such a team can help Garris connect the territory into a whole, and can also convey information in the closed countryside to Garris.
In most cases, rural residents would welcome the arrival of this kind of salesman-like team.
But the village in front of Garris showed its malice to the caravan a few days ago.
"Tell me more about the situation at that time." Garris asked the person on the side.
"Yeah." The leader of the caravan re-described the situation at that time.
As usual, these people came to the village in front to sell some goods and inquire about the local situation.
Since many Muslim farmers were not very wealthy this year, Garris had instructed the caravans to trade on credit regarding agricultural tools.
After all, a large-scale war will break out in the coming year. If iron farm tools can be promoted more, it means that the harvest in the territory will be better next year.
Considering the overall situation, there is really no need to worry too much.
But for such a popular strategic policy in various villages, when it came to the village ahead, it was like poking a hornet's nest.
"At that time, we had actually negotiated several deals and were planning to go to the imam in the village to testify, but suddenly a group of people came up and drove the farmers away. If we hadn't brought weapons with us, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to Even we will be beaten.”
"Although there is no loss, after all this trouble, it is obvious that the business cannot continue. I can feel that the relationship between the farmers here and that group of people is not very close. Instead, they have a strong sense of disgust."
Garris nodded after listening to the introduction of the person next to him.
The situation in this village is actually very clear when combined with the report Simon handed to him not long ago.
This is the hometown of another tax collector. Unlike the situation at Ahmed's place, the scope of control of this tax collector is completely Muslim countryside.
Therefore, compared to Ahmed, the tax collector here behaves more like a local bully.
It was no longer content to simply exploit farmers through taxation, but was truly transforming into a feudal lord.
They killed and robbed the people in the "territory", monopolized commerce and trade, and engaged in daily activities of selling high and buying low. Even the zakat here was forcibly collected by the tax collectors.
The caravan sent by Garris obviously affected the interests of the local overlord, so it was violently expelled by the other party.
"Do those people know that there is a lord behind you?"
"Maybe we don't know yet, so we just do business and don't behave even more outrageously."
Garris nodded. He was quite satisfied with this. This village was just an entry point to help him break into the Muslim rural community.
On this autumn day, two carriages and five or six traders staggered into the village again, but the only difference from the previous time was that they were carrying Garris on board.
Therefore, half an hour later, those guys who jumped out again and tried to drive away the vendors were all lying on the ground, moaning and unable to say a harsh word.
However, after the other party's interference, the business still couldn't be done. The farmers on the side looked trembling when they saw the abundant martial virtues of the caravan.
Not only were they worried about the local tax collectors settling accounts in the future, but they were also a little frightened when they looked at Garris.
Garris had already expected this. The reason for this happening was simply to verify the local situation.
After confirming that the business could not be done, Garris left the place with his people and went to a mansion next to the mosque. He asked the servants in the mansion to deliver a letter.
After a while, the owner of the mansion hurried out and greeted Garris personally.
"Don't attract too much attention." Garris ordered.
After hearing this, the other party showed a clear look on his face and did not show any exaggeration. Instead, he introduced Garris and his group into his courtyard in a polite manner.
When the others were taken away by the servants to settle down, the owner of the mansion came to Garris in an extremely humble manner and guided him into the living room.
Garris could tell that this living room had been carefully decorated. Although there were not many luxurious decorations, it was at least spotless.
"I heard about you from Khalid, so please forgive me." Garris didn't say much greetings.
The man in front of him was the imam in the village, and he was an old acquaintance with Khalid. There was an accident at his house not long ago. At that time, he tried to find Garris for help, but in the end nothing happened.
"Sir, I'm very surprised that you can come." There was a wry smile on the other side's lips.
(End of chapter)